“Bob’s Dream” is the final episode of “The Smith Family Chronicles.” Here is why I’ve ended the series. (If you’re not familiar with “Smith Family,” this video will of course make zero sense to you. You can watch all seven of the previous episodes here on my blog, or on my YouTube channel.) [Read more…]

Theologians and religious philosophers of every stripe are forever bumping their heads up against the “unsolvable” problem of the theodicy–the question of why God allows evil. Beyond perhaps assuring them a measure of job security, I have no idea why they or anyone else should find the theodicy such an enduring conundrum. If you accept [Read More…]

Sometimes people who begin their spiritual journey full of inspired joy and a passion for loving God become, over time, dogmatic in their beliefs, and harsh in their moral judgements of others. In this, episode seven of The Smith Family Chronicles, we discover what might have occasioned that unhappy progression in the life of one [Read More…]

In Episode One of The Smith Family Chronicles, Jane Smith shared with her father something about herself that completely freaked him. In Episode Two, Jane’s girlfriend Tracy proved an excellent new housemate. Luckily for Bob, in this, Episode Three, his wife Betty is unarmed. And yet something tells us, in the end, that the bell [Read More…]

What does it mean to be a young lesbian woman in a close and loving evangelical family? How do you come out to your father? How does he respond when you do? How does your mother react to the news? How about your brother, your best friend, your pastor? Who helps you swim through those [Read More…]

“UNFAIR: Christians and the LGBT Question,” by John Shore

"The touching, brave, and frequently heartbreaking letters in UNFAIR should be required reading for any Christian who claims that gay people can’t also be Christians–and for LGBT people who feel there’s some conflict between their sexual orientations or gender identities and their faith." — Dan Savage, "It Gets Better," "American Savage." Read more about UNFAIR.

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